India’s trade deficit widened to a more than five-year high of $18.02 billion in July, the trade ministry said on Tuesday, driven largely by a surge in oil imports.
Though merchandise exports rose 14.3% year-on-year in July, the trade deficit widened as oil imports surged 57.4% to $12.35 billion.
In June, the trade deficit stood at $16.6 billion.
Merchandise exports last month rose to $25.77 billion from a year earlier, while imports rose 28.8% to $43.79 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.